The 2006 Somerset Patriots kicked off their season the same way the 2002 and 2004 teams did, with a ring ceremony putting a fitting cap on a championship season the year before.

Ten players, including new pitching coach Brett Jodie, picked up their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony prior to Friday night's season opener at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. But it was a few of the remaining 13 players on the roster that had the biggest impact on the Patriots 3-2 ten inning defeat at the hands of the Atlantic City Surf.

Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Andy Van Hekken toed the rubber on Opening Night for Somerset, hoping to put the Patriots on the path to their first back-to-back championships in team history. On a pitch count of just 65, Van Hekken lasted only four innings, giving up two hits and two unearned runs before giving way to relief pitcher Ben Crockett.

For Van Hekken, it was his first Opening Day start since 2001 with Lakeland, and he was pretty satisfied with his performance.

"I felt pretty good out there," said Van Hekken, "I made a couple of mistakes early on, and I left a couple pitches up and they took advantage, but I threw a lot of split-fingers and curveballs out of the zone and they were chasing them."

As for Crockett, he baffled Surf hitters, throwing three hitless innings of relief to keep the Patriots in the game through the seventh.

Former Montreal Expos pitcher Mike Johnson, making his first professional appearance since 2004, came out for the eighth inning and quickly shook off any rust he might have had, striking out one in a hitless inning.

What the Patriots got from another one of their new pitchers, Jason Olson, in the ninth and the tenth innings could best be described as a mixed bag. Olson got six outs, including five of them via strikeout.

Unfortunately, he also gave up four hits, including a mistake to Surf DH Todd Leathers that traveled about 410 feet to win the game for Atlantic City.

"He's definitely got great stuff," said Jodie, "he just needs to get a little more consistent right now. But it's early, and that will come."

The Patriots are only returning three pitchers from last year's championship team, and one of them, Todd Moser, was already scratched from a start due to a groin strain. So it's up to Jodie, the first-year pitching coach, to get the most out of his new pitching staff until he can get the consistency that only comes with time.

SomerStuff: Former bullpen catcher John Evans, retired second baseman Emiliano Escandon and ex-outfielder Billy Hall were all on hand to pick up their championship rings. Escandon and manager Sparky Lyle are two of only three players or coaches with all three rings...The team did the right thing by inviting the third, former pitching coach John Montefusco, who abruptly left late last season, to the ceremony, but he didn't show.

Around The Atlantic League: After talking to various sources around the league, it seems like the signing of former Major League All-Star Juan Gonzalez is still a possibility at this point, with the Ducks being the clear favorite to sign him...Bridgeport brought back a big league All-Star though, signing infielder Jose Offerman. Offerman played with Bridgeport in 2003 before catching on with Minnesota in 2004 and splitting 2005 between the Phillies and Mets.

Ask Ashmore: For your chance to get your Atlantic League question answered in a future edition of the paper, send me an e-mail to mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com with the title "Ask Ashmore."

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